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I guess you are getting info on the access to Kaikoura from those you have booked with, but in case you aren't this link tells us the road from Christchurch to Kaikoura is now open to traffic.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/87823887/state-highway-1-south-of-kaikoura-reopens

Hi Skids
I live in Christchurch. You are covering most of the South Island and I am sure you will enjoy it. There are many interesting places to visit along all these roads
so you will have no trouble filling in your days.
For example earlier this year I revisited the Catlins and saw two waterfalls (one is a 20 minute walk in and the other about 30), I camped overnight on a beach
(twice) and two sea lions arrived both times and slept in the sandhills, I visited two lighthouses (one with seals), and I saw petrified trees which are now part of a
rocky shore...and that's about half of what the Catlins has to offer. And when you get to Invercargill you can spend an hour or two in E Hayes and Son's shop
looking at Bert Munro's Indian along with a lot of other motorbikes and memorabilia. There is also a motorcycle museum which has just moved there from
Nelson (another 2 hours) as well as a great truck museum ( another 2 hours).
NZ Frenzy, available from http://www.nzfrenzy.com/ for $19.95 is what I use when planning a trip. It's a pdf. Get the South Island edition....you won't be
disappointed. Your problem will be what to leave out.
I see that you are aware that the recent 14 November earthquakes along the Kaikoura Coast have made the route from Blenheim to Kaikoura to Christchurch
impassable due to large slips. It will not be open for many months so you need to revise that section. The route from Blenhiem is now St Arnaud - Murchison -
Springs Junction - Culverden - Christchurch. I will not be pleasant as lots of large trucks now also use this route. So take care.
The Molesworth http://www.doc.govt.nz/molesworth may provide you with an alternative but it also is currently closed with no indication as to when it will reopen.
It is the South Islands greatest adventure...about 180kms of gravel road through completely isolated back country. You will have to carry enough fuel to get you
to Hanmer Springs at the southern end. It is normally open during the summer months. It is on my bucket list and I had intended to do it this summer.
February is our warmest month (usually). I wear a gore-tex type jacket and trousers with liners. On a hot summers day I take the liners out, and wear a tee shirt
and shorts underneath. As it cools I add a skivvie, sweat shirt and long trousers, and finally a neck sock. I carry wet weather gear as you will strike rain
sometime. Wet gloves are a pain so I have bought rubber overgloves but I haven't used them yet. I have heated grips but I wouldn't expect to use them much
during February.
The sandflies on the West Coast are bad, but I use Bushman 80% Deet and I don't then have any problems. I get it at our local chemist in Christchurch.
Best wishes and have a safe trip.

It doesn't sound good. I have a cheap plastic "stethoscope" I bought which I use by touching various parts of the motor to try to identify where the sound is greatest, and it usually works. You can probably make a simple one by getting a length of small diameter plastic tubing and insert a 2" length of steel wire (knitting needle) in one end. Put the other end to your ear (perhaps with an ear bud in the other) and try touching the motor. Sound will travel throughout the motor but you can usually home-in on the predominant area. Good luck.

Like you I'm struggling to understand this. But it seems to me that you at the least have an electrical problem. Does the front brake work the brake light, and if so, is the wire which supplies power to the front brake contacting another wire or earth. The electrical fault is maybe upsetting the ignition too. Try removing the fuse which serves the lights and see if it idles okay.

On my Gen 3 I put a small screwdriver through the fairing as shown, and use it to press the bottom of the clip towards the rear, which releases it. The blade of the screwdriver can't be too long or the fairing will prevent it getting to the needed angle...mine is about the same length as the fuse box.

Hi dvfr.
I've just removed my 1990 VFR starter motor also, and I noticed that there was quite a bit of end play too. Probably about 0.5mm, but I didn't measure it. I note that it is shimmed at the starter clutch end, presumably to ensure the shaft doesn't go too far towards the starter clutch. I was thinking of shimming the commutator end just to remove some of the end play. I can't see any reason not to do this.
Comments welcomed.

I sympathise with you. This sort of problem is a real pain. I have a1990 VFR but fortunately haven't experienced this.
However, if I did, I would be trying to isolate to electrical or fueling.
To completely eliminate a bad fuel problem, can you rig up a gravity fed supply from a bottle. This may also help in doing tests while on the centrestand (I hope you have one).
Some things I would try are - (not necessarily in this order):
- disconnecting each spark plug in turn to try to find out whether it is a particular cylinder.
- check that the choke is fully off (my bike stalls if the choke is left on, particularly at low revs which is consistent with your problem occurring at low revs).
- check that the fuel pump doing its job (mine has just had to be replaced).
Others may be able to add to this list.

My 1990 fuel pump was leaking recently around its central joint. If you lift the tabs and pull it apart there is a rubber seal in there, and it had obviously stopped sealing. I didn't manage to stop it leaking so I bought a new one eBay for about $50. It has been on the bike for about 6 months with no problems.
Interestingly the points of the old one, which are under its rear cover, were shot. I don't think the pump could have been working. I never ever heard it, and I do now.

I think what you are trying to do is measure the current flowing from the alternator to the battery. I also can't see from their diagram where their leads connect. However the method is to remove the fuse - as this normally carries the current to the battery - and you connect the ammeter where the fuse was. So the +ve lead from the ammeter goes to the battery end of the fuse holder ( they give a reason for not connecting directly to the battery), and the -ve end goes to alternator end of the fuse holder.....in a GEN 3 this is R/W.
You do need an ammeter capable of carrying the expected current which is 9 amps...... I would be using a 20 amp ammeter......multimeters generally can't carry this much current so you are looking at using a specialised ammeter.
I suspect that there is some confusion in the translation as the manual says always turn the ignition off when conducting the test. This of course is not possible as the motor has to run to conduct the test. I presume they mean "always turn the ignition off when connecting the ammeter".

I have just installed a "cheapie" chinese gear indicator on my Gen 3. The only problem I have is that when I stop and shift to neutral it displays 2. This is because the earth supplied by my neutral switch is not zero ohms as it has deteriorated over time and is now about 3 ohms. If I use a good earth it does switch to zero. This seems to be a common problem with older bikes. However this only affects the display when I stop, and I can fit a new neutral switch and solve this minor problem if I want to.
I have used it for a couple of days and done about 3 hours of urban riding with lots of gear changes and it has worked perfectly. I have mounted it at the top right of my instrument panel where it is easily seen.
Its nice to know that the right gear is selected when you change down for a corner for example. The gear display is a nice clean blue, and not as seen in this photograph which is overexposed.